Pilot workload during approaches: comparison of simulated standard and noise-abatement profiles.

Introduction: A new noise-reduced landing approach was tested--a Segmented Continuous Descent Approach (SCDA)-with regard to the resulting workload on pilots.

Methods: Workload of 40 pilots was measured using physiological (heart rate, blood pressure, blink frequency, saliva cortisol concentration) and psychological (fatigue, sleepiness, tension, and task load) parameters. Approaches were conducted in A320 and A330 full-flight simulators during night shift.